HI everyone. I have been back to model rainroading a couple of weeks. I recently purchased a train set, but due to time constraints and space (waiting for room to be vacated by tenate), I have not had a chance to set it up. I am going to start when back from vacation in 2 weeks (room will be empty).
I was origianlly thinking of a swiss alps design for the layout, but have changed. I was thinking moe of a waltans Mt. theme. The room is approx. 9 by 12. The door and closet is in one corner. I was going to run along the walls with approx a 38 inch deep bench. I was going to start off in the spring going into summer going into fall on the trees and bushes. And i was going to have it set in the 30’s/40’s. and not have a full town, but houses sprinkled thru the whole layout. In one area have a small carnival with various rides. I was going to have a couple of wishing wells, some ponds, river and a waterfall coming down from the mountain.
Any feedback would be great and helpful.
Sounds like your primary interest is to run a train through some specific, detailed scenery. Nothing wrong with that - everybody has their own operational style.
I’m guessing, but I would think you would enjoy watching the train through the scenery more if it was close to eye level than if was at kitchen table height. This would put the track and layout at 50" or higher. Reaching in 38" at that height for construction and detailing is virtually impossible. You will probably want to limit your benchwork depth to 24" or less, unless you have access to the end of the shelf as well as the inside. Even 24" depth may take a step stool to work on comfortably if higher than 50".
For various reasons, I am experimenting with my track at 60"-64" high (I’m 5ft 9in). It’s a perspective I like very much, but I find one of those 2 step kitchen step ladders to be mandatory for construction. And lots of going up and down the steps and moving the ladder. Yes, my benchwork is 2ft deep.
Fred W
I do like a good amout of scenery. I plan on having about 1/4 of the layout overall with housing, 1/5 various water feature so i can incorperate bridges etc. and the rest various trees and such. I love outdoor scenes. Thanks.
hi,
you should think ahead a little bit.
Beside building your layout, running trains over it can be fun. The way its done differs from person to person; some like to watch only (viewers), some like to throw switches and signals (tower-men), some like to run long trains through a landscape (mainline engineers, this kind of layout is asking for length) and some like to switch cars (switching pike). Its hard to decide what you want, if you are new.
Reading a few good books about how to run trains might be an idea. Track Planning For Realistic Operation by John Armstrong is still one of the best. I would also buy a book by Lance Mindheim called: How to Design a Small Switching Layout. Some basic questions are covered very well. Realistic operation is one of those issues dividing model-railroaders in 2 sides.
i add some websites you could study,
paul
Some good (IMO) online resources on track planning/layout design/operations: